


Like Two Parts, Face to Face

by oleanderflowers



Series: All As One [2]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe, Betrayal, F/M, Flashbacks, Hospitals, Hostage Situations, I don't know what I'm doing, M/M, Undercover Missions, Violence, freelancers are part of a freelance crime fighting group, vigilantes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25360852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oleanderflowers/pseuds/oleanderflowers
Summary: After the attack on her brother, Carolina and her coworkers are scrambling to come up with a solid plan to take down Felix and Locus. Plans go wrong, pasts get uncovered, and some friends turn out to not be what they seem.
Relationships: Agent Carolina/Agent York (Red vs. Blue), Dylan Andrews & Jax Jonez, Leonard L. Church & Lavernius Tucker, Leonard L. Church/Agent Texas | AI Program Beta, The Meta | Agent Maine/Agent Washington, past Agent Georgia/Agent Utah
Series: All As One [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808398
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Like Two Parts, Face to Face

**Author's Note:**

> Highly recommended that you read the first part in this series, or else you'll be very confused.

Carolina and Tucker finally pull up to the hospital, only to be told that they can’t see Church. Not a surprise, but still frustrating. So the two find seats in the lobby and wait, both keeping to themselves. Carolina tries coming up with a plan in her mind as to how to stop Felix and Locus, though is drawing blanks. It’s too early for this.

Tucker takes out his phone and dials a number, letting it ring. Whoever he’s calling picks up and Tucker says, “Hey, Caboose. Yeah, I found Church.”

He pauses, listening to whatever Caboose is saying, before continuing. “He’s not doing too good, okay? He’s in the hospital. No, I don’t know when we can visit. I’m sure the docs will get him fixed up, though.” He sounds so tired as he sighs.

“Well, is Junior asleep? That’s good. You should get some sleep too,” Tucker tells Caboose before hanging up with another promise of Church being okay. 

Carolina’s expecting him to get angry at her, to tell her this is all her fault, but he simply leans his head back and closes his eyes. The two fall into silence until Tucker unexpectedly begins to talk. 

“Why did this happen? Like, why would those guys go after Church? I know we don’t live in the greatest place, but nobody really bothers us. Sarge usually scares away people with his shotgun and we’re not remarkable enough to be mugged. It’s just like… what the fuck? Y’know? Shit goes down and now Church is in the hospital,” he rants, and Carolina isn’t sure if he’s talking to her or just talking out loud.

She takes a moment to really look at him, seeing the tiredness in his brown eyes and the defeat in his shoulders. She realizes how sudden this must be for him and carefully says, “I’ll make sure it doesn‘t happen again.”

Tucker regards her with a small frown. “We barely see you. What the hell can you even do about this?”

“You’ll see.” There’s a strong sense of determination in her voice. When Tucker doesn’t respond, she stands up and says, “Take me back to the house.”

Tucker obliges, standing up and leading her out to the parking lot. There’s a sullen tension in between them as he starts up the car and begins the drive home, pulling back up to his house. 

"Thanks for helping me," Tucker eventually tells her once they're both out of the car.

Carolina pauses for a moment. "You're welcome. Keep me updated on Church, will you?"

"Sure." Tucker turns and walks into his house, not giving another look back at her. She sighs and gets into her own car, exhaustion finally sinking in. It's going to be a long couple of days.

* * *

It’s been a little more than a week, and Church is supposed to be released from the hospital soon. Carolina figures that it’s a good time to pay him a visit and talk. She hopes it won’t be as awkward or spiteful as other conversations they’ve shared, but she’ll take what she gets.

She starts driving to the hospital, not reacting when her phone buzzes a few times. The group has been laying low for a couple days, trying to see what they can do about Felix and Locus without putting anyone else in danger. Andrews suggested sending her and Jonez in to get evidence and expose the truth themselves. It sounds simpler than it is, but it might be worth a try. That is, unless they’re recognized and killed. Then the organization would have one less reporter and one less cameraman. 

All that aside, whatever they do, they have to do it soon. Carolina’s pretty sure that Felix and Locus are unaware that they’re still going after them, but one slip up could spell instant trouble. She sighs, knowing that Church isn’t going to like her decision.

Nonetheless, she pulls into the hospital parking lot and looks around for Church’s room. He’s in room 617, sitting on the edge of the bed. He looks up when she enters and gives her a wave. The room is decorated with flowers and messily-made cards wishing for his well being. 

Church is looking a lot better than he did when first being admitted. His bruises are still there, but they’re beginning to fade. His cuts are healing nicely and he seems pretty coherent. His trademark scowl is back on his face as he looks Carolina up and down, greeting her with a, “What’re you doing here?”

“Hello to you too, Church,” she drawls, stepping into the room and closing the door. He huffs and picks up his glasses on the table before setting them on his face.

“Well, what do you want?”

She frowns, tilting her head. “I just wanted to check in on you.”

“Why, because you feel guilty?” he snarks, folding his arms across his chest. That comment hurts more than Carolina would like to admit, but she stands her ground.

“Am I not allowed to visit my little brother?” Her tone comes off more defensive than joking and she grimaces. This isn’t off to a good start.

Church seems to feel the same as her, as he sighs and says, “Did you at least bring me anything good? Like, food?”

She shakes her head and he frowns at her, claiming she has no love for him. They start up small talk and Carolina goes to sit next to him. It almost feels normal until Carolina offhandedly mentions being busy with the case and Church tenses.

“Don’t fucking tell me you’re still going after those guys.” He fixes her with a glare, defiance and anger already in his posture.

This is what she was waiting for. The moment she has to tell Church the truth. “Yeah, I am,” she starts, keeping her voice level.

“What the fuck, C? Did you forget what they did?”

“Church-”

He explodes into anger, shouting, “No! Don’t you ‘Church’ me! Those assholes ran me off the road and beat the shit out of me. They threatened you to stay away and what do you do? You start going after them again!”

Now it’s Carolina’s turn to be angry. A common trait amongst the Church family. “There’s the selfish little brother I always knew you were. So worried about yourself getting hurt that you can’t look at the bigger picture!”

Something flashes in Church’s gaze and he snarls, slamming his hand down on the table next to the bed. “This isn’t about me, Carolina! This is about my  _ family _ .” He pauses and Carolina is taken aback, hating how that comment stings. 

“What if they go after Caboose or Tucker? Hell, even Junior! I have a fucking four year old at my house and, based on these guys’ actions, I wouldn’t put it past them to hurt a kid! They’re not messing around anymore. One goddamn mistake and my family can die,” he rants, his voice shaking at the end. “I can’t… I can’t fucking let that happen! Shit, they could go after the Reds, too! You’re putting my family in danger.”

Carolina clenches her fist, her eyes narrowing. “Oh, so I’m not your ‘family’ anymore? Besides, my team and I can deal with anything.”

“No. You can’t. The only time you had something akin to that, your teammate died!” Church snaps, making her freeze. “You tried to save your friend Utah, didn’t you? Well look where that got you! He’s dead!”

She’s about to ask how he knows that, but it’s probably Florida that told him. Dammit. Instead, she settles on making her voice go cold and steely. “Don’t you dare bring him up. That was in the past and it was a mistake.”

“Whatever, I’m done! Get out and drop the fucking case.” He turns away, refusing to look at her.

“Fine.” Carolina doesn’t even try to keep the venom out of her voice. She doesn’t even remember standing up, but she whips around and storms out of the hospital room, ignoring the glances from nearby nurses and doctors. She can’t believe Church brought up Utah. Now she can’t stop seeing his death, can’t stop seeing her failure.

Back in the old days, before Georgia disappeared and Maine lost his voice and Connecticut defected, the group had been up against a nasty lot of not-so-great people. The usual, except that this lot was seemingly impossible to get rid of. There were so many of them and they didn’t care about whether they got hurt or killed doing their job. They called themselves “Zealots” or something and were more than just a nuisance.

Carolina can’t exactly pinpoint when she realized that Utah was missing. Maybe it was when Georgia ran into the meeting room, shouting about not being able to contact him. Maybe it was when Illinois started to get worried. Maybe it was when the Zealots sent a message demanding the freelancers to meet them at the old, abandoned power generator. Either way, the fact that Utah was in trouble was adamant.

They had gone to the specified place, playing it as safe as can be. Wyoming and North got to sniper points, Maine and Florida watched the flanks. None of that was needed, though, as all of the Zealots had gathered in front of the old generator. And they had Utah.

Hostage situations are certainly not what Carolina is experienced with. She’s gotten more prepared over the years, but that time was different. All she could do was send Connie and Wash to circle around and find some way to get to Utah.

As one of the Zealots was shouting about something or other, Connie and Wash began to sneak away, communicating with the others over comms in their earpieces. North and Wyoming kept an eye out for them, everyone hoping that the plan would work.

The plan failed. One stupid fucking mistake and the Zealots saw what was happening. One stupid, simple mistake and a bullet was put through Utah’s head before anyone could do anything about it.

This led to a firefight and, in the end, the freelancers came out on top. No one knew what to say or what to do. That was the first time they’d lost someone like that and it was taking its toll. Georgia was absolutely heartbroken and went home without a word. Illinois took his time and tried to comfort the others. Carolina refused to talk about it, even when York prompted her. South stormed off and lashed out at anyone who came after her.

She doesn’t like thinking about that memory. No one does, but now she can’t get it out of her head thanks to Church. She knows she should understand where Church is coming from, but it’s still painful. He doesn’t even think of her as family anymore. No, his friends are his family. Don’t think about how she never talks to him or thinks about him. Don’t think.

Carolina gets into her car and slams the door, trying not to punch out the windows. Instead, she whips out her phone and begins to read through all of her missed texts, all of which being from her coworkers. Everyone’s still just scrambling to come up with a plan, either trying to come up with their own or adding things to Andrews’s.

Carolina finishes reading and goes to the home screen, thumb hovering over the call app. An idea begins to form in her mind and she’s tempted to just chase it away, but it’s something she should probably do. Even if it means calling up one Tex.

She’s not sure if Tex knows about Church’s condition, but she does know that Tex is still out of town. Carolina sighs and searches for Tex’s phone number. York gave it to her a while ago so she just has to scroll through her text messages until it’s found.

Carolina dials up the number and listens to the phone ring. On the third ring, Tex picks up, answering with a, “What?”

“Texas,” Carolina starts, frowning.

“Hello, Carolina.” Tex sounds the same as usual, her voice cold and level. 

With a small sigh, Carolina begins to speak. “I’m guessing you know about Church?” she begins, and Tex’s hum sounds enough like a yes for her to continue. “Well, I’m not dropping the case. Church needs you, all right? He’s worried about his friends.”

Tex is silent for a moment and the faint noise of a car door slamming closed can be heard. “I’m in the middle of a job.”

“So you’d rather finish a job?” Carolina snaps, starting to understand Church’s view on the whole thing.

Tex sighs, sounding almost exasperated. “No, I’ll come home. I’m not heartless, Carolina.” Which is debatable, but good enough. “Give me a day or two and I’ll see how quickly I can wrap up this job. The boys can go without me carrying them for a few more days.”

Carolina’s satisfied by that, so she prepares to hang up before a thought comes to her mind. “What is your job?” she asks, not because she wants to make small talk but because she’s a little curious.

“I’ll tell you when I’m back,” Tex briskly replies, and hangs up. Carolina puts her phone down and starts up the car, resisting the urge to slam her head against the steering wheel. Instead, she pulls out of the parking lot and onto the road, travelling it alone again.

* * *

Stuck on the topic of family, Carolina finds herself pondering on her own as she heads towards her group’s usual meeting place; Wash and Maine’s house. Those two have been living together for a while now, managing to buy a house that can hold a bunch of rowdy vigilantes. Almost every day, they gather either there, someone else’s house, or at a sort of HQ they have. Said HQ consists of an office building that Carolina, using her father’s money, managed to get. Both places work perfectly fine.

That aside, her coworkers are what she would call her family, she guesses. Washington’s like a little brother to everyone, the one who is teased all the time. North and South are an unstoppable force when put together. Maine’s one of her closest friends, Florida takes care of everyone, Wyoming makes sure he has everyone’s backs, and York…

York is something special, all right. Carolina can go as far as to say that he’s more than a friend. He has openly flirted with her and, depending on her mood, she’s flirted back. Or kicked him. But they’ve known each other for years and Carolina would be lying if she says she doesn’t feel something for him.

As for blood relatives, she’s never had a good relationship with Church since they were young. Back before their mother died, she and him would play with each other and act like the best of friends. But when the letter speaking of Allison’s death found Leonard Church Sr., he drew away from his children, leaving them mostly to their own devices. Carolina fought hard to keep her brother safe and, in the end, drove a wedge in between their relationship. As soon as Church could, he moved away.

It just so happened that Carolina eventually ended up in the same place as him; the city of Blood Gulch. Still, they stayed apart, only reaching out to each other once in a blue moon. That is, until now. Life has a damn weird way of working.

As Carolina pulls into Wash and Maine’s driveway, she notices that most of the others are already there. Her suspicions of being late are confirmed when she checks her watch. The hospital visit and phone call must’ve taken longer than she expects.

Feeling close to overwhelmed with everything, she walks up to the front door and pushes it open. There’s no need to knock. She steps into the hallway and finds the others gathered in the living room. South has taken up the entire couch, leaving only one space for Dylan to sit. Maine sits cross legged on the floor with Wash resting comfortably on his shoulders. Florida, Wyoming, and North stay in the other chairs while everyone else is left to the floor.

Maine nods his head in greeting and York looks up from where he’s scrolling on his phone. “Hey,” he greets, and Wash waves.

“Can we get this over with now? We’ve been waiting for fucking ever,” South groans. 

Carolina places her hands on her hips and cocks her head to the side. “Well, do we have a plan?”

“We sure do,” North responds, and Florida nods. “We’ve been building up Dylan’s idea.” The reporter looks up from her laptop when her name is mentioned. Jax is seated on the ground in front of the couch, quickly pocketing his phone.

Dylan closes her laptop and holds Carolina’s gaze. “I know it’s risky, but it’s the best we’ve got. Find a place where Felix and Locus are staying and send Jax and I in. We’ll use comms with the earpieces and get Jax some hidden cameras.”

“What are you going to do, sneak in?” Carolina inquires.

“Nope! We’re going as a reporter team, but a different one! Not us, obviously,” Jax starts, looking excited about the mission.

Dylan cuts him off, continuing on her own. “I’ll say that we’re freelance reporters wanting to interview the esteemed bounty hunters. I did a report on the Lozano case all those years ago, and if they want something more recent, I’ll talk about their other jobs that were ‘for the better good’. We won’t give any hints that we know about what they’re currently doing and we’ll even paint them as the good guys.”

Carolina hums, contemplating things. This could work. Felix has been shown to like fame and if news gets out about him and Locus being “good”, it can make them look better to the public. On the other hand, Felix and Locus may not care about their bounty hunter days anymore and might refuse to be interviewed. That would be the best worst case scenario.

“How are you going to get them to agree?” Carolina needs to know everything before she sends some of her team out into danger.

Wyoming speaks up this time, responding, “Leave that to me. I’ll contact them.”

“Yeah, turns out they have contact info!” Wash chimes.

“Of course they do. They’re mercenaries, guns for hire. If their contact info isn’t out there, they can’t get a job,” York reasons. “Don’t be too surprised, Wash.”

Washington rolls his eyes and Carolina sighs before returning attention to the mission. “Won’t they know you?”

“Those chaps know me from my bounty hunter years, not from what I’m doing now. To them, I’m just an old work acquaintance.” That’s right, Wyoming used to be a bounty hunter himself. “I’ll tell them that Andrews and Jonez have already interviewed me and that I told them to go to our mercenary friends.”

“There’s a solid chance it’ll work,” North inputs.

South frowns, her eyes narrowed. “And a solid chance that it’ll fail.”

“Relax, we have this. We can talk about it more today and get the details covered,” reassures Dylan. Thus begins the further planning, with everyone pitching in ideas and safety measures. They’re usually not this strict about safety, but Felix and Locus have proven that they’re dangerous. 

By the time Wash and Maine kick everyone out, it’s past six o’clock and Carolina is starving. York nudges her shoulder on the way out and asks, “Want to get something to eat?”

She hums before nodding, watching as everyone gets into their cars. She notices York’s car not being there and thinks to bring it up. “Where’s your car?”

“The twins brought me,” he says, waving at North to go. North shrugs and gets into the driver’s seat, waiting for South to get in on the other side.

Carolina watches them pull out of the driveway after Florida and begins to lead York to her car. “Where do you want to go?” she inquires, turning back to face him.

“I’ve got a place in mind.” He slides into the passenger seat and buckles the seatbelt, keeping his eye focused on Carolina. She gets in and starts the car, asking York for directions.

He provides them: “Turn right, keep going straight until you get to Valhalla Drive, turn left on Sidewinder, then just keep going straight. It’s towards the edge of town.” She follows said directions until York points out a small mom and pop diner, one that she recognizes. She’s eaten there a few times, but not as many times as him.

They walk into the diner together, York filling in the silence between them with stories and small talk, and are led to a two-seat table by a waiter. The waiter gives them their menus and leaves them to decide on what to eat. Carolina feels like she needs to get something off of her chest.

York’s halfway through a story about how South tried to get a date at a bar when Carolina looks him in the eyes and says, “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.” He doesn’t look too fazed that she interrupted his story, though there’s a slight expression of concern on his face.

“Do you ever think about the others? Like, the people who left,” she eventually settles on, setting her menu down in front of her.

York lifts an eyebrow. “Where’s this coming from?”

She purses her lips before letting out a small sigh. “I visited Church today and he… he brought up Utah.”

“He did what?” York looks taken aback, quickly inquiring, “What led to that?”

“I told him that I’m continuing the case and he got upset, starting saying how I was putting his friends in danger. I tried to reassure him that we had it but he used Utah as an example,” she explains, crossing her arms over her chest.

He shakes his head sadly. “Kind of a dick move. How’d he know?”

“Florida told him.”

“Of course it was Florida, that sly bastard. Leave it to him to marry someone close to your brother and tell him everything,” York jokes, trying to make Carolina smile. It doesn’t really work, but she appreciates the effort.

“But, Carolina, if you ever need to talk, I’m right here. You’ve never opened up about Utah or Georgia or any of the others, so… Yeah.” He looks at her not with pity or anything like that, but with openness and caringness. Leave it to York to be so nice.

She shrugs, giving him a small smile. “Thanks. Anyways, let’s talk about something better. Want to continue your story?”

He takes the hint and launches back into the tale, only pausing when the waiter comes to take their order. York asks for the burger and a soda while Carolina goes for a salad. She’s thankful that York doesn’t bring up the case or anything like that. It may be urgent, but she wants a break from everything once and awhile.

Their food comes and they lapse into a companionable silence, both of them enjoying their food. The hours tick by and soon they prepare to leave, York insisting that he pays the bill. She lets him, though she does slip in some money to contribute. Then they’re back in the car, Carolina taking the familiar route to York’s apartment.

York’s rocking out to the car radio when she pulls up to his complex. “Here’s your place,” she announces, and he smiles at her.

“Thanks for coming with me, ‘Lina.”

“Yeah, well thanks for taking me. Now get out of here,” she orders lightheartedly. He gives her a fake salute and slides out of the passenger seat, waving goodbye as he walks away. She watches him go, a warm feeling in her chest.

Once Carolina gets home, the warm feeling has vanished. She almost immediately curls up on the couch and turns on the TV to some random channel. She’s a mess of emotions and wants to just be alone for a little bit. Granted, she enjoyed her time with York, but still.

She gets up to grab her laptop, figuring that she might as well try to help out with the plan. With the TV creating a steady background hum, she begins searching through the internet for reports and cases of Felix and Locus’s bounty hunter days. The few things she finds are from long ago, ones that Dylan and Florida have probably already covered.

Carolina loses track of time until her phone gets a notification. She’s expecting it to be an update about the plan, but instead it’s a link from York. A link to a photo album labeled ‘Fam’. A few seconds later, York sends an additional text reading, “ _ know you don’t always like talking about it, but thought you would appreciate this _ ”.

She clicks on the link, which brings her to the shared album. Scrolling up to the first picture, she clicks on it and is greeted by the sight of York taking a selfie of himself, North, and Wash. All three of them have wide smiles on their face. It’s from a long time ago, though, as they all look younger and York doesn’t have his scar yet.

She starts swiping through the photos, each one bringing up very old memories. There’s a picture of Georgia and Utah kissing on the couch at a party or something while South points and makes a grossed-out face. Carolina remembers how Georgia had told South that she was just upset about him getting more action than her, in which she dragged him off of Utah and began beating the shit out of him.

Then there’s a photo of Connecticut and South having a drinking contest. Another one of Florida, North, and Wyoming sharing tea, laughing at one of Wyoming’s bad jokes. And there’s Illinois, offering a bottle of alcohol to anyone who would take it. Arkansas and Alaska messing around while Kentucky laughs. 

There are plenty of pictures of Carolina as well; one with York’s arms slung across her shoulders as Illinois takes a picture, one of her trying to shove Wash off of Maine’s shoulders. Then the photos get newer and a noticeable lack of the older crime fighters becomes apparent. Still, the memories are sweet, from pictures of Wash and Jax drawing on a sleeping Maine’s face to York taking videos of random shenanigans.

It’s bittersweet and she feels a little better, though there’s still a sense of sadness. She replies to York with a, “ _ Thank you. Very sweet, _ ” before adding, “ _ why are there so many pictures of me? _ ”

“ _ ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ you look nice. _ ” 

She smiles and sets her phone down beside her, shaking her head. Maybe next time York offered a date, she would take it. Just maybe.

* * *

Dylan Andrews has been in a lot of crazy situations before. She’s reported on the front lines of wars, been arrested and shot at multiple times, and gone up against a lot of bad people. So when Carolina Church reached out to her and told her about her crime fighting group, Dylan couldn’t resist joining the team.

Of course, as soon as the young Jax Jonez heard that his teammate was joining up with the group, he wanted to come along. He and Dylan had worked together on a few stories, and even though he was inexperienced, he had some type of grit. So eventually, he got let into the team.

As of now, Dylan’s driving right towards danger while Jax sits in the passenger seat, messing with the radio. It’s been a couple days since their meeting and a solid plan has been made. Even better, Felix and Locus agreed to be interviewed. 

She spares a glance at Jax, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, and asks, “Know the plan?”

He looks over at her and nods enthusiastically. “Yep! They won’t know I’m sneaking around at all.”

“Good. I’ll keep Locus and Felix busy for as long as possible. If anything goes wrong, you have to leave. Keep the footage safe.” Dylan looks back out in front of her, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Mhm!” Jax chimes. He’s outfitted with a few hidden cameras; ones small enough so that they won’t be spotted unless someone looked extremely close. His focus is back on the radio as he flips through the channels, trying to find something both he and Dylan will enjoy. He eventually settles on a classical rock channel and looks out the window.

They lapse into silence, listening to the music, before a building shows itself in the distance. “Is that it? Looks like a perfect place for enemies to be hiding out,” remarks Jax, who leans forward.

“435 Bravo Street? I think so.” There are no buildings around this one, only stretching fields. The only sign of it not being abandoned are the cars and trucks parked around the building. “Let’s hope they’re expecting us. Got your disguise ready?”

He nods once more. Said disguises aren’t much; they’re just going by other names. Dylan took it far enough to dye her hair brown and style it differently, just to make sure. She is one for taking chances, but it’s better safe than sorry in this situation.

She pulls the car into what she guesses is a parking lot located at the front of the building. By the doors stands a pair of people that are most definitely Isaac Gates and Samuel Ortez. There’s more people as well, standing adjacent to them. They watch as Dylan and Jax get out of the care and quickly approach them.

“Felix and Locus,” Dylan starts. “I’m glad you agreed to let us interview you.”

“Yep. Glad to be of assistance. What’re your names again? Rowland or something?” Felix regards them both with no caution, a friendly but unnerving smile on his face.

Jax takes a breath, preparing to speak, but Dylan responds before he can. “I’m Ash Rowland, and this is Joe Nikolosee.” Jax gives a little wave once his fake name is mentioned.

“Nice to meet you. Well, come with us. I’m sure you have a lot of questions you’d like to ask, and we have a lot of answers!” Felix exclaims, and Locus nods.

“Lead the way.” Dylan steps forward and Jax trails alongside her as Felix and Locus lead them into the building. The other people file in behind the two, creating an escort.

Dylan keeps her eyes focused in front of her, though does glance around once or twice. Felix starts filling in the silence, asking, “So, what’s your schtick with interviewing bounty hunters? Reggie told me you’re freelance reporters, so…”

“We became interested in bounty hunters not too long ago when one reached out to us,” Dylan explains. “From there, it’s just been us trying to interview them.”

“It gets us popularity! You guys have a lot of interesting stuff in your lives,” chimes Jax, sounding just as excited as before.

Locus glances back at them, his expression unreadable. “I can see how some aspects of the bounty hunter business would be appealing to others.” 

Dylan takes a moment to observe them, perhaps to create profiles later. Locus is tall, with brown skin, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, stone grey eyes, and a x-shaped scar slicing across his face. Felix is a little shorter, has pale skin, brown eyes, and brown hair shaved on the sides and slicked back on the top. Felix seems to be the more charismatic of the two; he does most of the talking and walks slightly ahead of his partner. Locus is much more observative, which matches up with what Dylan already knew.

Felix and Locus take them to a room sprouting off from the winding hallways. There’s a table set up there, along with a few chairs. The other people, whom Dylan can only guess are other mercs, disperse back to wherever they need to be. 

Part one of the plan seems to be working. Felix pulls up a chair and sits down in it backwards while Locus simply takes a seat at the table. Dylan sits down as well but Jax stays standing, ready to go into the second part.

“Hey, uh, can I use the bathroom? You guys can start the interview and I can just go,” he offers. Dylan’s not sure if his embarrassment is real or faked.

Locus tilts his head slightly, inquiring, “Would you prefer one of us to show you where it is?”

“No, no. Just give me directions!”

Dylan nods. “Yeah, it would be best if you two were here. We don’t want to waste too much of your time.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we have all the time in the world,” Felix drawls before turning back to Jax. “Turn right and keep following the hallway. There’s two doors on the left that are the bathrooms. Try not to get lost, ‘kay? I don’t want to have one of my men go on a hunt for you.” The way he says it makes it sound slightly more threatening than concerned.

Jax gives him a thumbs up and turns towards the door. “I’ll be back soon!” he calls over his shoulder before walking out. Dylan suspects that he maybe has about ten minutes before Felix and Locus get suspicious. The only problem is the other mercs, but she trusts that he’ll be able to avoid them. Hopefully. That or he can awkwardly talk his way out of it.

“So, we doing the interview, or what?” Felix demands.

“Yes. So as you already know, I’m Ash Rowland, freelance reporter and journalist. And you two are Felix and Locus, correct?”

Locus nods his head. “That is correct.”

“So, when did you start your bounty hunting business? I want to hear the whole story.” Dylan chooses her words carefully, though she’s had experience with this. She knows what to do.

“Felix and I were in the military together. That’s how we met.” Locus glances at Felix as he retells their story. “After that-”

Felix cuts in, continuing with, “We wanted to do some good in the world! Get rid of bad people, y’know? So we joined up with a buddy and started taking jobs.”

“And what about the Lozano case?” She’s referring to an old incident in which the mercenaries and their friend had gone after Gabriel Lozano, the son of Ruben Lozano. Somehow, the bounty had been removed after they got him, so instead they tried ransom. Things didn’t necessarily work out in a great way, but both Lozanos were removed from the city that night.

“That was an accident. We didn’t know it would go that far,” Locus responds. “Again, we were trying to do good. Even though Lozano’s bounty had been taken away, we still were able to do something with him.”

“And then our buddy left not too long after that,” Felix concludes. So, South’s theory actually is correct. Or, it may be.

Dylan looks Felix in the eyes and asks, “Left? Or something else?”

Felix regards her coolly, his expression giving almost nothing away. “Left. He wanted to be with his wife and kid, so he went away.” He looks as if he’s daring Dylan to challenge him, but she doesn’t have the evidence to say otherwise. Who knows what happened to Mason Wu.

“Fair. Well, what’s your job now?” Straight for the kill. She doubts that they’re actually going to tell her their employer, but it’s worth a shot.

“We’ve been hired to bring in some thugs hanging around the Chorus section of the city. There are some in main Blood Gulch as well,” Locus informs her. Dylan almost scoffs at the attempts Locus makes to paint himself and Felix as the good guys.

Felix makes a noise of agreement, leaning forward against the back of the chair. “The guy behind the curtain wants to remain anonymous, but let’s just say he’s part of the bounty hunting business.”

“Alright. Now, what are the biggest problems in your job?” Dylan is mentally taking notes this whole time, keeping her focus. Felix and Locus are good at keeping the bounty hunter ruse up, she has to admit. If she wasn’t undercover and knew of their real job, she’d be convinced.

Felix shrugs, glancing towards his partner. “The usual. Some people just don’t want to go easily and put up a fight. There’s been this one group we’ve been up against that just won’t back down.” There it is, the offhand mention of Carolina’s group, saying they’re the bad guys.

She takes it in and continues with the questions, asking one after another, until Felix interrupts her while she’s in the middle of asking one. “You know, I haven’t seen your buddy for a while. Think he got lost?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him to do so. He always gets lost,” Dylan mutters, attempting to sound exasperated. It’s not hard to, especially when regarding Jax.

“Well, tell ya what. Locus, how about you go looking for the kid? I’ll stay here with Miss Rowland,” Felix suggests. Locus stands up and walks out the door without saying anything.

Dylan wishes she can warn Jax to get back here, but her comms are turned off to avoid detection. He’s on his own, but they’ve gone over this. Jax will pretend to have gotten lost and come back here to finish up the interview. Easy.

Except suddenly Felix turns back to face her, something new in his expression. “So, tell me, how long did you think you could’ve gone without us knowing who you really are?”

She freezes up but keeps her voice steady. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not really Ash Rowland. I know who you are and who you work for. You thought you were so clever, coming in here undercover. Your plan fucking sucks! Seriously, even if we didn’t know who you were,” he rants, standing up from the chair and placing his hands on the table.

“Locus is gonna bring your buddy back in here and we’re all going to have a nice little talk. All civil and shit. Until we kill you, that is. Try to run, and we’ll shoot you down before you can even reach the door.”

Dylan curses under her breath. How does Felix and Locus know? No matter that; what actually matters is that she and Jax get out of here. Jax especially, as he’s the one with the footage. She has to turn on her comm but Felix will surely notice if she does.

Fortunately for her, the mercenary’s attention is temporarily diverted to his own comm. He must have an earpiece as well, as he puts a hand up to his ear. “What do you mean you can’t catch him? Just shoot him in the leg or something, I don’t know!” He turns towards the door, as if trying to look out of it, and Dylan makes her move.

She ducks down, turns on her comm, and is immediately greeted by Jax yelling for backup. “You guys gotta come now, things are getting crazy! Next thing we know, there’s gonna be an epic car chase,” he shouts.

Florida’s voice responds, sounding staticy over comms. “Wash, South, and I are on our way!” He sounds way too cheerful for this.

“Felix has me trapped. I can attack him, but I’m pretty sure he’s armed,” Dylan hisses, keeping her eyes on Felix. The mercenary is still focused on the door, listening to his comms and shouting at presumably other mercs. 

“If I make a run for it, will you follow?” Jax asks, sounding out of breath. “Oh, maybe I can distract all of them so you can go!”

Dylan huffs, slowly standing up. “Don’t be an idiot, Jax. You have the cameras. We can’t let you get caught.”

Felix’s head whips towards her and he narrows his eyes. Dylan, realizing she’s been caught, stands up straight and looks him dead in the eye. “What, you didn’t think I came prepared as well?”

“That’s it.  _ You  _ are going with  _ me  _ to draw out your friend,” he snaps, stepping around the table towards her.

She stares at him, only some nervousness flaring inside her. She has to finish this case and get out of here. “I don’t think so,” she settles on.

“You don’t have a choice.” He lunges forward and she steps around the table. In a split-second decision, Dylan rushes towards the door and skids out into the hallway. “Jax, where are you!” she shouts into her comm, looking over her shoulder to see Felix running after her. She sees a knife in his hands and starts to run faster.

“I’m running away from the room with all the cameras!” comes the hurried reply.

“The security room?”

“Yeah, that’s i-” Jax’s comm line goes dead all of the sudden and Dylan curses. A sudden noise interrupts her and she jumps to the side, narrowly avoiding the knife that was thrown at her. She hears Felix growl behind her and she quickly turns a corner, seeing the exit door in sight.

With a final sprint, she reaches the door. She quickly pushes the door open and barrels through, turning around and shutting it. The thunk of something embedding into the door can be heard and Dylan is glad she closed it in time. Who knows how many more knives that guy has.

“Jax, are you there?” No reply. “I swear to god, you better get the fuck out there now!” Still no answer.

The door flies open and there’s Felix, all of the cockiness and pride on his face replaced with anger. She’s vaguely aware of South shouting something or other and catches, “Shit, we’re almost there. Fuck!”

Dylan and Felix circle each other; Felix with his knives, Dylan with nothing but her fists. She’s gotten into bad situations before while doing her job, but nothing one on one like this.

Felix’s comm is buzzing but he ignores it. “Really, did you expect to be able to get out of here? Sad,” he snarks.

“We got this far, and we are getting out of here.”

“Don’t sound too sure about that,” Felix hisses, and he charges at her. She steps away again but he hooks his foot around her ankle and sweeps her to the ground. In response, she grabs his leg and pulls him down, and the two begin to wrestle. Felix gets the upper hand and shoves her down, his knees digging into her stomach.

She puts her hands up to block the punch he attempts to land on her, but he just keeps hitting. She’s running out of luck until the noise of wheels skidding across the ground and a truck engine shutting down reaches her ears.

Less than a few seconds later, Felix is tackled off of her and punched in the face by no other than South Dakota. South looks winded and a little green around the gills, but she still has strong fists.

Dylan picks herself up and looks over to the truck, where Washington is leaning against the side and Florida is getting out of the driver's seat. “That was the worst driving ever. Of all time,” Wash breathes.

“It was urgent,” Florida says nonchalantly before looking at Dylan, a bright smile on his face. “I am just pleased as punch to see you’re alright! Where’s Jax?”

“I still don’t know. He won’t pick up on comms.”

Florida frowns. Before he can reply, however, South swears loudly. Dylan whips around to find both South and Felix bleeding; Felix from his nose, South from a slash on her shoulder. The mercenary has a now-bloodied knife in his hand and kicks South away from him. She stumbles back and glowers at him, radiating anger.

Wash leaps into action, pulling a knife from his waistband and throwing it at Felix, who leaps to the side. Wash then lunges at him and the two begin going into a full knife fight, each having who knows how many knives. 

“You two go get Jax. Wash and I have this handled,” South growls, one hand pressed to her wound. She looks like she wants a rematch. Honestly, if Felix didn’t have the knife, then Dylan has a good feeling that South would’ve won.

Florida nods and takes off running, pulling a pistol from his jacket. Dylan follows suit and runs beside him, matching his speed. She directs him towards the door and they go in. 

“He said he was running away from the storage room,” Dylan reports, looking for any sign that will lead them there.

“I know!” Florida chimes. “I heard over comm. Let’s hope he’s not in too much trouble!”

She can hear the faint noise of gunshots, which is technically good. If they’re still shooting, it means that Jax is still up and running. But something must have happened, or else his comm wouldn't have gone dead, right? Dylan’s mind races and she shakes her head to clear it. Focus on the mission and the story that will come from it.

They run through the winding hallways, turning away from dead ends and attempting to follow the noise. The gunshots become closer once they reach a certain part and the sight Dylan sees makes her both relieved and worried at the same time.

Jax is running towards them, his lightly tanned skin stark against the dark halls, his eyes lighting up when he spots them. He’s bleeding from the side of his head, blood matting his dark hair, and his earpiece is gone. Behind him is none other than Locus and five of the other mercenaries. And of course, they all have guns. 

They’re not shooting to kill, as Jax would’ve already been dead if that was the case. Instead, they’re aiming for his legs, trying to take him out so they can get to him. Jax keeps running, though, and zigzags around.

“I have stuff!” he shouts, putting on an extra burst of speed. Florida rushes forward to divert the mercenaries’ attention, firing off a few shots in their direction. Jax is still closer to the mercenaries than he is to Dylan and this comes to fruit when Locus gives chase to him, gun abandoned. He keeps behind Jax so that Florida can’t get a good angle unless he steps into the line of fire of the other mercs.

Jax may be fast, but Locus is just faster. He straight up sprints towards Jax, moving at a slightly unnerving speed, his long legs covering enough distance. Locus reaches forward and snags the hood of Jax’s sweatshirt, causing him to be jerked backwards. Jax lets out a strangled noise and instantly begins flailing around.

“Shit,” Dylan breathes, watching her cameraman attempt get free. He’s marginally smaller than Locus but keeps managing to avoid getting grabbed by Locus’s other hand. That doesn’t prove to be entirely helpful, though, as Locus simply begins dragging Jax towards him by the hood. 

“Florida, I’m going after Jax. Keep the other mercs distracted,” she whispers, waiting for Florida’s affirmative nod. She then begins to run once more, this time right for Locus and Jax. Sure, she’s never fought with someone while out on a reporting trip, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how to fight.

Very much aware of the bullets whizzing around her, she attempts to slam into Locus’s side. However, the mercenary sees her coming and whips around to face her, dragging Jax with him. The poor kid’s like a ragdoll, getting thrown around everywhere.

Dylan backtracks, not wanting to hit her cameraman. “Get back,” Locus orders, his voice just as cold as it had been.

Jax starts trying to pry Locus’s hand off of his hoodie. He hasn’t stopped struggling and Locus’s facade drops for a moment, revealing slight frustration. All of Jax’s strikes and kicks do nothing to get him free. 

“Let him go.” Dylan stares at Locus defiantly, holding her ground.

“Your attempts are admirable, but there’s no escape,” Locus starts, but he’s cut off when Jax digs his elbow into Locus’s jaw. A bold move, and one that just might work. Locus is taken slightly by surprise and Jax begins twisting around in retaliation, reaching out towards Dylan. She grabs his arm and manages to pull him free, wasting no time to start running. 

A quick glance behind them confirms that Florida has downed the other mercenaries and is booking it after them. His scarily cheerful demeanor has yet to falter, as expected, but there’s some blood staining the sleeves on his blue shirt. Worrying, but they can deal with that when they get out of here.

Dylan takes the other two back outside and sees that Wash and South are still engaged in fighting Felix. All three of them have sustained some kind of wound, whether it be stabs or bruises, but Wash and South do seem to be winning. 

Felix turns and sees them coming, surprise flashing over his face. He barely ducks under South’s swinging fist before retreating slightly, his surprise turning into anger. He must realize that he’s very outnumbered, though, as he retreats further back towards the building.

With no further obstacles, everyone rushes back to Florida’s truck and pile in. Wash steals the passenger seat so Dylan is left in the back with South and Jax, but that doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters now is getting out of here.

Florida starts the car and presses down on the gas, sending everyone lurching forward in their seats. He pulls out into the road and speeds away, not bothering to slow down until they’re a safe distance from the place. No one appears to be following them.

A collective feeling of relief washes over everyone and Dylan leans her head back. She leans her arm against the inner door before her eyes flick over to Jax, who’s absently touching the wound on the side of his head.

“What’d you find?” she asks him, and he turns to look at her.

“Found stuff in the security room, some offices, and the record room. I didn’t stop to look through any of it, so we can do that when we get back. I also got some sick looking action shots.”

South nudges him, smirking slightly. “Nice. Let’s hope it’s something good.”

“What happened to you?” Wash inquires, turning around in his seat.

Jax shrugs, looking down at his hands as he begins recounting his adventure. “Well, out of nowhere the mercs started trying to grab me so I ran. Then Locus came out of nowhere and just slammed into me! I hit my head really hard against the side of a wall and my comm got broken, so I took it out. Then I went back to running, they started shooting at me, and Dylan and Florida saved me!” 

“And Wash and I got to beat up Felix. Win-fucking-win,” adds South, nodding triumphantly. 

Florida hums in agreement and turns on the radio, letting music fill the vehicle. They all fall into small talk until he pulls up to today’s designated meeting place: back to Wash and Maine’s house. All of the cars prove that the others are waiting for them and Carolina is even there at the door. Her eyes narrow at them when she sees the injuries and she ferries them inside.

“Got what we need?” she asks as she shoots a side glance at Jax. He nods, some of the exhaustion finally setting in. “Good. Give me the cameras and you should all get some rest.”

Jax unclips the cameras, frowning when he discovers one broken, and hands them over to Carolina. She accepts them and pats him on the arm. “Go rest up,” she repeats, nodding at Dylan and the others.

Wash leads them through his house, walking through the living room and pausing in front of a closet adjacent to the bathroom. He opens it and pulls out a first aid kit along with a few bandaids. He begins distributing said supplies to the others, along with other needed medical supplies.

Everyone takes what they need and Dylan and Jax excuse themselves before dispersing from the others. They go back outside and sit on the porch, leaving the noisy house behind.

“You did good,” Dylan says after a moment, glancing over at Jax. She’s reminded of how young he is, swept up in this whole ordeal that could cost him his life. It’s funny how far they’ve come, going from absolutely hating Jax to tolerating him. Also the whole fighting crime business.

Jax replies with a, “Thanks,” and the two lapse back into silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

That is, until Dylan smirks and points out, “You know, it was dumb to wear a hoodie to an interview.”

Jax shrugs, a small smile painting his face. “Well, that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I now have an epic idea for a movie!”

“Isn’t finding out who’s behind this more important than movie ideas?”

“Mm, I guess.” He doesn’t sound very convinced. “But maybe I could make a movie about this when it’s all over!”

“You do that,” she muses, and leans back slightly. Knowing Jax, he probably will make a movie. She can’t say she wouldn’t watch it. But movie and all aside, all that’s left to do is sit back, relax, and wait for the information. Easier said than done.

* * *

Carolina’s been looking through the footage for a couple minutes, slowing down the film to get every detail possible. The others wait around the room, except for Maine and York, who are looking over her shoulders. 

The footage is at a part where it’s focused on some of the computers in the records room, attempting to turn them on. There’s a mug on the table that can be seen in the periphery of the camera’s view, some sort of logo adorning its side. Carolina squints, trying to see what the logo is, when York leans around her to point at something on the screen.

“Look, there!” he exclaims, and Carolina looks to where he’s pointing. At the bottom of the computer screen is two simple words: “ CHARON INDUSTRIES ”. There’s a drawing of a person with an oar in the O and a quick look confirms that it looks like the same logo on the mug. 

“North, search up Charon Industries,” Carolina quickly says, and North opens his laptop and begins furiously typing. 

The film keeps playing and York tilts his head slightly. The computer can’t be opened, so their cameraman moves on. “Maybe there'll be more evidence when he gets to the security room?”

“Charon Industries, I got it,” North reports, keeping his eyes on his laptop. “Says here it’s a company that makes weapons and technology… looks like they've been in a lot of other businesses as well.”

“Who runs it?” Carolina focuses her attention on where the footage is playing as she asks her questions. There’s a chance that the whole Charon Industries thing might be a coincidence, but still. It’s a lead.

The footage heads towards the security room a few moments later and sure enough, there’s a file with the Charon Industries logo, amongst other things. It’s too much evidence to be just a crazy coincidence.

Maine growls something and heads over to North, looking down at the laptop screen. North snaps his fingers to get the others’ attention before looking everyone in the eye. “Malcolm Hargrove. Founder of Charon Industries.”

Carolina smirks, relief washing through her. They finally have a solid lead! “Well, boys, looks like we’ve figured it out. Someone is going to go out of business very soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title and series name from the song All As One by Trocadero. 
> 
> I was going to post this the day after posting the first part, but I lost all motivation. Yeehaw. Uh anyways look how creative I am with Jax and Dylan's disguise names. Jax's is pretty self explanatory, and then Dylan's is just combining the name of the reporter from X-Ray and Vav and one of my OCs.
> 
> I finally included Georgia, Utah, and Illinois in one of my fics. I love those three, I hope Georgia and Utah are living happily together.
> 
> So, uh, I'm not proud of this fic. At first it was really fun to write and stuff but now I don't think it's good and I'm not happy 'bout it. Y'know, the usual writer's doubt stuff. Who knows when I'll continue it, but expect a long wait (though that's nothing new). Do y'all think it's okay? Also, apologies if my writing style's a little wonky, I've been switching between writing RvB fics and Clone Wars fics so yeah.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Love y'all. If you want to talk, I have a tumblr: oleader-rookie


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